Splurge!

Sacha got her first paycheck last week and she got TWO rolls of film developed for us. Too bad she was being cheap on the road trip and wouldn't get film for my camera.
Just try to imagine the star struck look on my face when I saw the world's largest sandhill crane.

Hangin' Out

Sacha finally got two jobs and all she does now is work. I just hang out in her room with the cats. It's true. We had planned on going back to Montana in January. Then Sacha got offered a much sweeter deal. So in February we are planning our longest road trip yet. We will be driving all the way out to Olympic National Park. That is on the very north western tip of Washington.
In our very preliminary plans we want to spend a day in Eastern MI, Western MI, Chicago and Jackson, WY. Then we also want to eddy out for an extended period of time (well 2-3 days) in Colorado and Montana. Lastly we are going to visit my friend Oscar in Seattle. It should be fun!
Hopefully Sacha will take me for some adventures in the meantime so I don't go crazy waiting.

Full on cross country jaunt

Because Sacha is unemployed we decided to hightail it to Cleveland. I've never been. Actually the whole trip involved many new places for the two of us.

We began by driving from Jackson, WY to Big Sky, MT where we eddied out for a two days of fireworks, camaraderie and a few PBRs.

We then started out driving into North Dakota and the Bad Lands, then through Minnesota, Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. These last three states were very much like the North Country of New York, only flatter.
As for the sleeping arrangements, they could have been better thought out. Sacha decided that to save money we were going to sleep in Sue Bea like we did all summer. Rest Areas are a little different than the boat yard and neither of us got much sleep the first night. The second night we splurged and stayed in hotel outside of Duluth, MN. After a stop off in Ashland, WI to check out the nature center and cook lunch we ended up camping in a mostly closed campground in St. Ignace, MI. That is directly next to the bridge, as in we could hear people crossing it all night.
In the mitten part of Michigan we stopped off for a night with Sacha's old friends from Camp Manitou-Lin. Some of these friends go back to the days when Sacha was a camper herself in Ohio. We got to meet the new puppies and Jay and Ardith's baby Adela.

It was so good to finally be staying with people we knew!

There was good food and good stories all around.
Next we had a short five hour drive to Cleveland. It was Halloween. So we got home and had to find a costume for Sacha right away. Both her ideas to be an Ohio State super fan and to be the winner of the miss Ohio beauty pageant fell through (no OSU shirt to be found, and a prom dress that seemed to have shrunk). Sacha finally decided to be a ballerina.



After just two nights in Ohio we packed up into Sacha's Dad's Prius (giving Sue a break) and drove out to New York. We stayed with Sacha's Grammy and relaxed for a few days with Grammy and Marmy as well as various other family members.
Now we are back in Ohio for at least a month. Sacha has a job back in Montana in January, so we will be headed back by then. As for now there are three cats in this house, although they don't seem to pay me any mind, we are keeping the door to Sacha's room closed just in case.

Pictures!

Finally after much fruitless searching we were able to find a place in Jackson that develops film. So you will see below our pictures from the summer. Sacha has vowed to develop one roll of film every pay check until the whole summer is up as well as the fall. Enjoy!

Wyoming?

Wow, what a whirlwind. We just got back from the Tetons. We met up with our old friend Mike. The first night we stayed with friends Joe and Kelli (From Pathfinder...in CA) at the Teton Science School. Then Sacha and Mike were off to the Park. They got a permit for four nights of camping on the Teton Crest Trail. I of course stayed behind to guard Sue Bea. We got to see lots of horses being loaded and unloaded for trail rides. Sacha said they had to walk past three moose along the trail. I will take the horses! Anyways all was running along smoothly until we got to Mike's car (the mighty one) and he realized his keys were still on the trail. We hope that he got the situation worked out as we dropped him off at a motel and drove back last night.
The big news is that Sacha will be taking a job with the Teton Science Schools for the fall. So next week we will be back to Jackson. We really enjoyed the town so it should be good times.
We have now finished multiple rolls of film and will hopefully developing them...oh at the rate Sacha is going, by 2008.
Happy fall to everyone!

Something New

After much neglect (Sacha has been climbing like crazy...and remembering me when she gets to the climb) we finally went hiking. Sacha's friend Becky convinced us to stay in town. So we woke up this morning and hiked to the "M." There is lots of smoke from the many surrounding forest fires. We did our best to snap some shots and are almost done with the roll of film. Maybe it is just the smoke, but for someone who seems to climb all the time Sacha sure did huff and puff the whole way up.

High Adventure

We went hiking to Ousel falls the other day. It is a great short hike right in Big Sky.
In other news Sacha had a big Saturday. She started out going rafting. Then went fly fishing. This was followed by long boarding and rock climbing. We all thought she had broken her toe at the end of the day. Turns out it was a bad choice to go rock climbing after you crack your toenail walking through the river. She is almost better now and I hope that means we are going hiking soon!

Friends!

We are making lots of Friends here. Haley and a lizard whose name is Earl live in a van nearby. Audra and another dinosaur whose name is Oscar live in a truck. We are planning on doing a big group outing. Earl is quite the singer!

Back in Montana

So we have been back about two and a half weeks. The adventure has been high! Sacha has been on a water kick and within the first few days she went both kayaking and rafting. Apparently she fell out of her kayak a few times and got a little bruised from the rocks.
Many people have been wondering where we actually live. We live in Big Sky, Montana. In Sue Bea (the car). Mostly we just stay right in the back (the seats folded down and a nice bed set up). Sometimes we camp or stay at friend's houses. Sacha drives a bus for a raft company on the Gallatin river. She mostly reads books while she is working.
Some of the fun things we have done include hiking to Lava lake, and spending two days back in Yellowstone.

Moving Home(MT)

So we had a great if not short trip out to Montana.

June 2:
We started out by heading out to the 101. We had planned to take highway 1. It was really foggy by the coast so we opted to see what we could where the two highways merged and keep to the 101.
We got to Sarah and Jamie's just in time for Sacha to play a round of Pan with Sarah while Jamie cooked dinner. (Don't worry if you don't know what Pan is...it is a card game too confusing for me.)

June 3
In the morning we went to the Earthbound food stand. We then drove down the Big Sur coast line. We got out and first walked to the ocean where Sacha and Sarah looked at shells and starfish. I was too busy eating blackberries - yum! Next the four of us set out on a hike up the canyon to a grove of redwoods!
Driving that evening across the central valley was not too exciting. When we got there I was too tired to join Alison and Sacha for a swim in Crane Creek.

June 4
Yosemite! If you haven't been I highly recommend it. Alison set us up with more than we could have ever done. First we drove through the valley getting out to check out the tourist hot spots. Then it was up to Al's summer home - the high country. It is amazing squared. Granite everywhere...trees...lakes. This is what we were missing in So Cal. Sacha was on a crazed swimming binge and swam in Lake Tanaya. No thank you. There was snow all around. We hiked up to Cathedral Lake. About a 7 mile round trip hike. Lucky for me I could just fly. Sacha got eaten by mosquitoes near the lake. I tried to make friends with some of the local birds. They kept to themselves though. For dinner Sacha went to the Mobil station in Lee Vining. Can you believe there was a don't feed the birds sign up there? Next Sacha drove around looking for some hot springs. Sounds like soup to a bird. Can we please get a normal temperature bird bath here?

June 5
Driving. After a windy stop at Mono lake we drove. We drove across Nevada. We drove across Idaho. We got to West Yellowstone, MT at 12am.

June 6
Ha! I have been amused today. First Sacha was really paranoid about bears and all hopped up on caffeine. She woke up about every hour and a half. I could tell from the car because she turned on her headlamp and peeked out of the tent. Next I watched the campground host come and put a fee envelope on our windshield. Looks like somebody didn't pay too much attention to which campground we were pulling into. Finally Sacha had a brilliant idea to move her stuff to the storage unit in the rain. Being a bird and having nothing to move I just sat back in the dry car chuckling.
Now we are just hanging out 'till there are raft trips for Sacha to take out. (hopefully that means hiking)

Leaving California

So my blog is all ready to go. I hope you like it so far. We are leaving California in two days. There is an epic trip planned. I am a little nervous because Sacha (you remember Sacha) has no idea where we are going to live this summer. I hope we find an apartment. I don't really like either option of staying in a storage locker or in the hot car all day. Also I want another bunny friend...and we can't keep one in the car. I will do my best to update the blog as I go. It may be a few weeks before the pictures are up. Thanks for visiting!

Return to California August 2006

After an eventful summer it was time to return to California. I was glad because while Sacha was living in her car in Big Sky I wasn't able to prance about.


Intrigued by a rest area sign...or maybe ONE of us was about to pee their pants we stoped in Idaho. I was pleasantly surprised to find a lovely hike through a lava flow. We got out and stretched our wings.



We traveled south to Utah where again we got in late to the King's Bottom campsite outside of Moab (see Colorado to California post for a nice picture of me cooking there). The next day we explored one of the few frontcountry hikes in Arches Sacha hadn't done yet.

Who showed up that evening? Our old friend Mike. We had a great time reminiscing about Bruce. We camped one more night in Moab, then moved south to Indian Creek.


We spent the next two days in Canyonlands National Park. This was a great hike!



We left Mike and drove through Ed Abbey land down to the Grand Canyon. I think I must have been out of film. Even though we saw a pair of California Condors there is no photographic evidence.

California to Montana June 2006

A whole summer of adventure! Traveling from California to Montana was full of options. This is my friend the gnome and me right before leaving California.

My first stop was the world's largest thermometer in Baker, CA.

We had an amazing night of camping in Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument (the Arizona sign). We traveled up to Utah and Zion National Park.

Our friend's car was left by this road in town while we went into the park.

Next it was on to a night of camping at Parowan Gap. There are some great petroglyphs here if you ever find yourself in southwest Utah.

A visit to these caves south of SLC is highly recommended. A stay in the Avenues Hostel is not.

In Idaho I had to stop and see the world’s largest potato.

We made it to Montana where Sacha had the most awful job ever.

A few weeks into our stay we traveled to Glacier National Park. I hope to return there soon! Sacha quite her job and started working at the Rafting Company shortly after our trip north.

Colorado to California August 2005

Although we didn't really want to leave Colorado, Sacha had made plans months before to try a different state before buying a house and being grown up.

This is one of many get togethers at our apartment. I actually don't remember this picture being taken.

We packed Sue Bea. Here I am just before we left Snow Mountain Ranch. That's my friend Blackberry peeking up from the floor. I miss her dearly.

Our first stop was Moab, Utah. Sacha had been telling me so much about the amazing rocks. We got in late. Sacha slept next to Sue Bea at King's Bottom campsite, I stayed in the car. We woke up to bees swarming us. Then prepared a delicious ramen breakfast!

We tried to go to a Pueblo Museum. When we got there and found out there was a fee we knew the only option was to drive straight to the Hoover Dam. I was too scared to walk across with Sacha (weird since I am a bird) so I snapped this photo by the Arizona sign and waited in the car.

Eventually after many hours of being lost in the Southern California wasteland we arrived at Pathfinder Ranch. These are my friends Jamie, Alison, Kim and me at the beach in Carlsbad!

Meet Petey

Sacha and I met in 2005 at the Wal-Mart in Golden Colorado. I was hanging out with my life partner Bruce and some of our friends. Sacha was there with her friend Mike "Jug" getting oil changes for Sue Bea and the Mighty One. When the four of us met it was like we had been friends all of our lives. Mike and Sacha immediately invited us to come on their trip to Yellowstone. They were leaving as soon as their cars were done. We agreed to come along. Officially I became Sacha's and Bruce became Mike's.
We had a late night driving to Yellowstone. In the morning we went to the backcountry office and got permits to backpack. We decided it would be best if Bruce went along on the hike and I stayed behind to guard the cars. One could only guess what the next few hours would bring.
I was told by Sacha that the hiking group had trouble finding the trailhead. They struck out cross country following their topographic map. It was muggy going filled with mosquitoes and bush whacking. Finally the trail was found. As they filed out of the forest Mike asked Sacha to check the back of his pack to make sure the 1 pound of M&Ms was still attached. Bruce had been guarding it. The M&M's were still there. I could hear all the way back at the car one anguished

"BRUCE!!!"

He was gone. Somewhere between the parking lot and the trail Bruce had flown the coop.
Since I lost Bruce I have made it my vow to take every opportunity I am given. If I had gone on the hike I would be with him now. I will not live my life sitting on the sidelines again.